Mike Nadel: Hard to care enough even to boo these bad, boring Bulls

When did it all go so bad for the Chicago Bulls, who'd have trouble scoring in a room full of drunk groupies?

Mike Nadel

When did it all go so bad for the Chicago Bulls, who'd have trouble scoring in a room full of drunk groupies?

The subject could be debated endlessly if we didn't have more important things to do. For example, I'm trying to figure out which non-alcoholic wine goes best with a tuna sandwich. Fake white with canned seafood, right?

Phoenix finished a road trip with a matinee game Sunday at the United Center. Expecting the Suns to have the energy of drowsy tortoises, Jim Boylan, the Bulls' very interim coach, said: "I thought we had a chance."

Fat chance. For a while, the Bulls managed to drag the sleepwalking Suns down to their level. Eventually, superior talent won out, and Phoenix pulled away for an 88-77 victory that dropped Chicago's record to 17-26 and fed the growing trend of fan apathy.

It's not as bad as it was in the first six seasons of the post-dynasty era, but there have been empty seats galore lately. And most fans who do show can't even bother booing. The disgust fans showed in November has been replaced by shoulder shrugs and early exits.

Worse than bad, the team's a bore. Playing without injured Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, the Bulls have bricked their way through consecutive 77-point games.

Each player rejected a huge contract extension before the season. In an interview aired Sunday, team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf told WGN-TV: "One of those two guys told me he made a mistake."

Said Gordon, who inexplicably thinks he's a superstar: "Obviously, he wasn't talking about me." (Reports say Deng's the one feeling multimillionaire's remorse.)

Though vastly overrated, Deng and Gordon do represent 40 percent of the offense. And given the woes without them - the Bulls shot 36 percent these last two games - one would be tempted to say: "Hey, maybe Deng and Gordon really should get LeBron/Dwyane money. Come on, chairman, open the wallet!"

But one is smart enough to know the Bulls were 16-24 and ranked low in every offensive category even before Deng and Gordon left the lineup last week.

If you listen carefully to some of the main characters involved in this tragic comedy, it seems the Bulls really were sunk when Boylan's predecessor, Scott Skiles, realized he had lost his team of me-first clods (such as Gordon), spoiled babies (hello, Tyrus Thomas) and overpaid malcontents (step forward, Ben Wallace).

Reinsdorf said as much in his TV interview.

"Scott came to us eventually and said, 'I think the team needs a new voice,'" said Reinsdorf, who along with GM John Paxson fired Skiles on Christmas Eve. "Scott realized that he wasn't getting through to this group. It was time to do something else."

Boylan rushed to his friend's defense. Sort of.

"Scott's a dedicated professional; he'd never quit on the team," Boylan said. "I think Scott's a realist. He sees what's going on around him. He's not afraid of the truth. Sometimes, when things aren't going well, there's a reason."

Pretty cagey. He didn't really call Reinsdorf a liar; after all, Boylan wants to coach the Bulls beyond this season.

But that's not likely to happen, so why not praise Skiles, who is likely to coach elsewhere next season and will need an assistant? Besides, I'm sure Boylan doubts Skiles quit on the Bulls until long after the players quit on the coach.

Even though Paxson failed to address shortcomings he admitted the team had, delusional people believed the Bulls would follow last season's 49-33 showing by contending for the 2008 Eastern Conference title. Instead, the Bulls have regressed, both individually and collectively.

Boylan said the players, for whatever reason, stopped working hard, which had been the team's trademark during its three-year playoff run under Skiles.

"You stomp your foot. You scream. You put your arm around them. You show them tape. You talk about it. You ask the players to talk about it," Boylan said. "But ultimately, it falls on the players' shoulders. And until we (play hard) consistently ... the results will be what they've been so far."

Yawn. Will somebody please wake me when the season's over?

Mike Nadel (mikenadel@sbcglobal.net) is the Chicago sports columnist for GateHouse News Service. Read his blog, The Baldest Truth, at www.thebaldesttruth.com.